Insole and method of making same



F. N. LA. CHAPELLE.

INSOLE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. Z,I9l8.

Patented May 25, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED N. LA CHAPELLE, 013 BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

INSOLE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1920.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known t at I, FRED N. LA CHA- PELLE, a citizen of the United States residin at Beverly, in the county of ssex and tate of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Insoles and Methods of Making Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved insole and in the method of making the same.

Insoles, used in the manufacture of welt shoes, are provided with a stitch receiving rib and this rib is most commonly formed by channeling the insole, although some types of insole are formed by attaching a sewing rib to the blank. In making all leather or regular welt insoles, a flap and a lip are cut from the insole material and the lip is set over upon the between substance. In making reinforced insoles of the Economy type the insole blank is channeled as for a regular insole but the flap and lip are both turned and secured together in upstandin position. In making reinforced insoles o the Gem type a lip onl is formed at the channeling operation an this is then turned to upstanding position. Reinforced insoles of either type are made by securing to the unchanneled blank a sewing rib of cord, tape, leather or any other suitable material. For the purpose of describing the present invention the Economy type insole has been selected for illustration, those skilled in the art being readily able to recognize the application of its principles to all other t pes.

It is essential that t e sewing rib shall have a definite relation to the edge ofa; c insole this being an important featurdl of construction of the shoe and largely determining its satisfactory. appearance. As the toe of the shoe becomes more pointed approaching what is known as a razor toe it becomes increasingly difiicult, at the channeling operation, to maintain the desired relation at the toe between the sewin rib and the edge of the insole. The cause 0 this difliculty is that the channeling machines employed are not well adapted to turning a sharp corner. It is the common practice, to assist in making such a sharp turn, to reduce the speed of the machine and then manipulate the insole past the edge gage. The operation is a difficult one and only the most skilled operators can perform it without injury to the between substances or defective channeling.

The object of the present invention is to produce a new and improved insole, more particularly for use in razor-toed shoes, having a perfect stitch receiving rib and in which the required form and location of the rib at the toe is positively determined.

In accordance with this object it is contemplated that a new shape of insole blank be employed, 2'. a, one in which the toe end is so formed that the channeling operation at the toe may be performed without any turning of the blank whatever, and which, after channeling, may be shaped to the required angular proportions. More specifi' cally it is proposed to provide the insole blank with a squared toe end the channeling knives running off this squared end when completing the channeling on one side and running on again when starting the channeling for the other side. Thereafter the method contemplates removing the central portion of the squared toe, preferably by a V-shaped cut, turning the lip, or the lip and flap, to produce a sewing rib, and then closing the sides together thus butting the ends of the rib. By following this method, it will be readily understood that the toe of the in sole may be made to conform to any sharp connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a pointed toe insole of the Economy type constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figs. 2, 3, 4; and 5 are plan views of the toe portion of the insole of Fig. 1 illustrating the various steps in the preferred manner;l of carrying the method into practice, an

Fig. 6 is a view of the toe of a completed insole showing the application of strengthening material inside the rib.

The preferred form of the toe of theinsole blank, is shown in Fig. 2 in which extensions 10-10 project beyond the normal outline of the insole (indicated in dotted lines) and form a squared toe. The corners of the extensions are rounded on a radius substantially equal to the radius desired at the point of the toe in the finished insole. The insole blank may be shaped to this form by any of the usual methods, for example, by (linking, or shaping in a sole rounding machine.

Having prepared the blank in the form shown the next step is to channel the blank so as to provide the lip and flap which form the stitchreceiving rib. This step is illus' trated in Fig. 3. It will be observed that the channeling on the right of this figure runs off the work at the end of the extension 10. After channeling the first side of the insole it is turned around while out of operating position, the channeling knives are reentered at the end. of the squared toe and the second side of the insole is then channeled. This obviates any turning of the sole, while the knives are in cutting position, in order to channel around the point of the toe. As the toe has always been the most difiicult part to channel and has, necessarily, been done at a greatly reduced speed, the speed of the channeling operation is greatly increased and, as will be later understood, the quantity of the product is greatly improved.

For reasons which will later be apparent. it is desirable that the step of turning up of the lip and flap be now performed. Fig. & shows the lip and flap turned up back to back to form the stitch receiving rib. This operation may be performed on any of the well-known lip turning machines, the two parts being secured together by cement or stitches. The sewing rib having been formed, the next step consists in removing a triangular piece from the squared toe so as to leave two ears 12-12 (Fig. 5) forming a fish mouth at the extreme end. of the toe. The notch at the toe is of such shape that the ears can be pressed together to butt the severed ends of the rib and produce a pointed toe on the insole as shown in Fig. 1. This is performed by a molding operation.

It is apparent that the shape of the notch left after removing a triangular piece from the toe, as shown in Fig. 5, determines the final shape of the toe. This shape may be somewhat varied, however, by varying the form of the molds as the leather, being tempered throughout the process, readily permits such molding as may be desired. The notch having been closed by pressing the cars 12 together, permanency of shape is secured by the insertion of one or more fastening devices, such as the staple 11. in order that the split in the end of the toe of the finished insole may be firmly closed, it is desirable that the sides of the V-notch shall have a slight convex curvature as shown at 16-16 in Fig. 5. l Vhen the notch is closed,

this construction provides a slight surplus material which tends to maintain the sides of the notch in close contact. By rounding the corners of the projections 10-10 on the desired radius of the finished toe and then cutting the notch approximately through the centers of the arcs, the two corners when joined form a toe having the desired curvature. The rearward limit of the notch is the point where the channel flap cuts join.

It is desirable that the lip and flap he turned up before the notch is cut at the toe in order that their ends shall abut evenly when standing substantially vertical. will be apparent that if the notch were rut before the channeling operation or before the lip and flap were turned up, the angle of the cuts would be such that the ends when turned up would not abut evenly. 1n the use of this invention in connection with all leather, or regular insoles, in which the flap is but slightly raised, it is evident that the ends of the flap will approximately abut if the notch is out before the lip is set.

In some instances it may be desirable to further strengthen the toe, in the vicinity of the split, by the application of a small triangular piece of reinforcing material such as the fabric 18 shown in Fig. (l. A. there illustrated the fabric extends across the body of the insole between the sides of the sewing rib and up the inner face of the rib, it being secured to the leather by a suitable adhesive. A reinforced insole may have the usual reinforcing fabric applied over the reinforcement 18 or the reinforcing fabric maybe applied to the solo in the con dition shown in Fig. 1 without the reinforcement 18.

The advantage attained by the present invention is apparent from an examination of Fig. 1. The stitch receiving rib comes to the desired sharp point both on the outside and the inside of the sewing rib and the feather is uniform on each side of the toe. which are the conditions most required by superior shoemaking.

It will be observed that pointed toe insoles may be made by the method described which are accurate in all their dimensions, and. therefore the use of such an insole will add quality, accuracy and perfection to any shoemaking.-

Having thus described the novel feature of the insole of the present invention and the preferred method by which it may be prepared, what is claimed as new, is:

1. An insole blank for use in pointed toe work having the usual forepart formation comprising side edges converging from the ball toward the tip of the toe but extending substantially parallel to each other at the extreme end of the forepart producing re-entrant angles at each side of the forepart and a blunt tip.

2. An insole blank for use in pointed toe work having the usual forepart formation comprising steadily converging side edges except at the extreme end of the toe which terminates in a substantially rectangular portion the two corners of which are rounded on equal predetermined radii.

3. An insole blank for use in pointed toe work, having a V-shaped notch in its toe end and a separate sewing rib on each side terminating at the toe end in the sides of said notch. 4

4. An insole having a pointed toe, a sewing rib the sides of which at the toe form an acute angle and a central toe slit passing through the rib and insole body so located as to bisect the said angle.

5. An insole provided with a separate stitch receiving rib on each side of the fore part terminating at the toe, and means for holding the ends of the ribs in butted relation.

6. An insole provided with a stitch receiving rib having the rib and the body of the sole split through at the point of the toe.

7 An insole provided with a stitch receiving rib having the rib and the body of the sole split through at the point of the toe, means for uniting the sides of the split toe, and a reinforcement connected with the sole on both sides of the split in the rib.

8. An insole having an integral stitch re ceiving rib, split inwardly through the rib at the toe, means for securing the sides of the split toe, and a triangular piece of reinforcing material adhesively secured to the body of the sole and to the rib in the vicinity of the split.

9. The method of making pointed toe insoles which includes the steps of shaping a blank to produce a squared toe end, providing a sewing rib at each side of the blank both of which extend across said end, removing the central portion of said end, drawing its sides together, and securing said sides when in butted relation.

10. The method of making pointed toe insoles which includes the steps of shaping a blank to produce a squared toe end having its corners rounded on the radius of the toe cutting a V-shaped notch in said end on radii of said corners, and through the sewing rib, and butting the ends of the sewing ribs by closing said notch.

11. The method oi making pointed toe insoles which includes the steps of forming a stitch receiving rib on an insole blank before it is shaped to its final form at the toe, cutting a V-notch through the body of the sole and the sewing rib at the toe, and press ing the sides of the V-notch together to produce the final form of the toe of the insole.

12. The method of making pointed toe in soles which includes the steps or: procuring an insole blank having a projection at each side of the toe extending beyond. the outline oi. the finished insole, channeling through both projections, turning up the lips to form a stitch-receiving rib, forming a V-shaped notch at the center of the toe, and closing the notch by pressing its sides together.

13. The method of making pointed toe insoles which includes the steps of providing each side of an insole blank with a separate stitch receiving rib running off the toe of the blank, removing a V-shaped notch from the toe having its apex between the ribs, and closing the notch to cause the ends of the ribs to abut.

14:. The method of making pointed toe insoles which includes the steps of channeling an insole blank having a squared toe by running oil and on the toe, turning up and securing together the flap and lip thus produced at each side oi? the blank, cutting a V- shaped notch in the toe vertically through the upturned flaps and lips, and closing the notch to butt the flaps and lips and produce a continuous sewing rib.

15. That step in the method of making pointed toe insoles from an insole blank having a V-shaped notch in its toe end which consists in molding the toe end to close the notch.

16. An insole blank having its forepart shaped for a pointed toe by means of side edges converging toward its toe end, except that the tip of the toe is provided with lateral extensions having edges extending at an angle to the edge of the fore part and which, together with the material therebetween form a squared toe end.

17. An insole blank having its forepart shaped for a pointed toe except that the tip of the tee is provided with a V-shaped notch and the opposite edges of the blank adjacent the notch. are substantially parallel. 

